Good Dealers in Malaysia?

im looking to get a les paul standard as my first elec. guitar(i own an Ibanez V-Series acoustic guitar,playing for over a year now.)
im looking for epiphone dealers in the country.
or better yet,dealers from nearby countries like Indonesia or Korea that does shipping.
looking for shops that sell good quality epis,with a decent pricetag.
any references would be appreciated (:

If you don't mind inquiring through SMS's/calls and doing cash-on-delivery deals, I can recommend you to a trusted Epiphone dealer in the Malaysian music scene. He does shipping too, if you choose to do so. The only thing is, he doesn't have a shop front as he does this thing as a personal business and rest assured, his Epiphones are legit.

[quote name='lamusiqa]If you don't mind inquiring through SMS's/calls ...cash-on-delivery ... he doesn't have a shop front as he does this thing as a personal business and rest assured' date=' his Epiphones are legit.[/quote']

No offence to your acquaintance, but I wouldn't rest assured with that kind of dealer, Mr "just joined today and my only post is a dodgy looking advert"

There are (apparently) no korean dealers, there's no way to buy from a factory, there are a massive amount of fakes in Asia. Go to a real music shop that looks reputable and have a look and a play of any guitar before you buy. Don't go chasing unbelieveable offers, because you'll be chasing fakes.

No offence to your acquaintance, but I wouldn't rest assured with that kind of dealer, Mr "just joined today and my only post is a dodgy looking advert"

There are (apparently) no korean dealers, there's no way to buy from a factory, there are a massive amount of fakes in Asia. Go to a real music shop that looks reputable and have a look and a play of any guitar before you buy. Don't go chasing unbelieveable offers, because you'll be chasing fakes.

Well, I can understand where you're comin from. I was just tryin to help, ya know. Yes, there are no direct-from-factory sales, the guy I was referring to got his stock from licensed dealers overseas since ya know, Malaysia doesn't have an official Epiphone dealer since the rights is exclusive to Swee Lee(a music store in Singapore) for the region. I'm not sure how that works but yeah, that's how it is.

The seller basically gets his inventory from licensed dealers similar to how the official Yamaha stores around here get their Epiphones. Yes, Yamaha Music in Malaysia sells original Epiphones. According to the Gibson website, there are no Epiphone dealers in Malaysia and yet, Yamaha Music sells them. At a huge mark-up.

Levanter, don't worry, yours is legit. You can check your serial number with Gibson and verify it's authenticity. You can also check online how to spot a fake Epi and see if yours is one, although I very much doubt it.

If you guys noticed it, DeadEye's prices aren't exactly cheap due to importing. However, it is cheaper and easier than to acquire an Epi from overseas by courier shipping.

Just to add, you can check the testimonials from his buyers on the thread on Lowyat.net or for further credibility, Malaysia's premier musician forum JamTank. JamTank members are among the most seasoned players around and most of Jamtank users are generally very anti-fakes on the JamTank marketplace with the keen eye of spotting any threads that sells fake goods. DeadEye is still selling on JamTank and is a regular now. That ought to say something about his reputation.

Well, I guess there's nothing else anybody can do but to actually do some research about the seller and take a gamble with him. I'm not twisting anybody's arm to believe me about his credibility. I'm just tryin to help the OP to get his fix. Plus, from my inquiries with DeadEye(real name's Calvin), he was extremely helpful and patient. Friendly too.

But do know this: there are a lot of Epiphone users in Malaysia and most of them got theirs from local importers just like DeadEye. Even popular shops in KL like The Guitar Store are selling Epiphones in their shops like they're an authorized dealer but according to Gibson, they're not.

Really sucks that there's no licensed dealer in Malaysia. I would have thought some enterprising chinese person would have set one up by now unless Gibson just refuses to give a license to anyone in the far east and therefore the enterprising chinese have to resort to selling them under the counter.

Or is it one of those malaysian apartheid things... you are only allowed to be an authorised dealer if you're Malay...

Really sucks that there's no licensed dealer in Malaysia. I would have thought some enterprising chinese person would have set one up by now unless Gibson just refuses to give a license to anyone in the far east and therefore the enterprising chinese have to resort to selling them under the counter.

Or is it one of those malaysian apartheid things... you are only allowed to be an authorised dealer if you're Malay...

There is no such practice as Malaysian apartheid. That's just crazy.

There's no official Epiphone dealers in Malaysia or even Indonesia simply because Singapore's Swee Lee got the exclusive rights to the region. Because of this, sellers has to acquire their stocks at much higher prices than you would find in the USA.

It's bulls**t, really considering the fact that we're MUCH closer to China.

Yeah it was an exaggeration. Meant as a joke that I hoped malaysians would get since quite a few malaysians have popped up in this thread. I appologise for any offence I have caused you, it was not intentional.

What I call "malaysian apartheid" is simply that ethnic malays are given many advantages over the minorities by the malay government. Reserved places in university, reserved political jobs etc. IMHO, this sort of thinking's held malaysia back as the world's progressed. Many many people dislike Lee Kuan Yew, but he's really pushed Singapore ahead in the modern world. It's a good example of how differing policies can have an effect on the future of a country. Malaysia and Singapore used to be the same country after all, before they were forced apart by political and ethnic unrest.

Yeah it was an exaggeration. Meant as a joke that I hoped malaysians would get since quite a few malaysians have popped up in this thread. I appologise for any offence I have caused you, it was not intentional.

What I call "malaysian apartheid" is simply that ethnic malays are given many advantages over the minorities by the malay government. Reserved places in university, reserved political jobs etc. IMHO, this sort of thinking's held malaysia back as the world's progressed. Many many people dislike Lee Kuan Yew, but he's really pushed Singapore ahead in the modern world. It's a good example of how differing policies can have an effect on the future of a country. Malaysia and Singapore used to be the same country after all, before they were forced apart by political and ethnic unrest.

that is true,malaysia does have it's downfalls.i was talking to my teacher and she agreed that the malay status quo is bringing the country down(this coming from a malay teacher.)
although we're not here to discuss politics.
and those who think i'mma spam-advert guy,screw you.
im an epi lover who just got around into signing up for the forum.
been viewing it for a while now.